A Knight In The Naga Kingdom
by SPY46
Summary: This is a Story of a Black Knight that finds him self in a strange world full of dangers, myster and adventure. what fate will befall him? its my first story i posted on here, so be kind and please give feedback on any thing.


**A Knight in the Naga Kingdom**

My name is Koric and I am a Black Knight, but I am only one of a good many thousand others.

Like them, I do not fight for any lord or master; we do not fight for gold but will not refuse it if offered or there is need of it.

No, I fight for Honor, fighting any and all that would pray on the weak and helpless, bringing glory to the brotherhood that is the Black Knights

I have slain demons and monsters that had gotten too close to villages when the local armies could care less for a few peasant lives, which is when my brethren or I would appear.

But this time, I was after a much larger and more dangerous foe than any simple demon.

Out in the nearly deserted wastelands of Almak and in the ruined city of Deloth, a deranged warlock thinking that the world and all its kingdoms were meant to be his had claimed the city as his fortress.

That madman was creating an army of not only undead, but he was also using goblins, trolls and a few of the more savage of the Orc sub races that were easily manipulated ether with the promise of gold, women and power, others were controlled by fear alone.

Several of the free armies from every known kingdom were massing an assault on his tower.

Humans, free Orcs and Dwarves filled the front lines of the army side by side to fight an even greater enemy while the elves and magic users along with a few ballistas and catapults launched attacks from the rear.

But they were just the decoys to force him to draw out his army, so a strike team could sneak in and kill the warlock him self, once that was done, the undead army would no longer be a threat as he was the only thing keeping them in this world.

I and several other knights, wizards, elves, Orcs and even a few dwarves were hand picked to make the critical strike to kill the warlock him self.

One of the wizards melted a hole in the walls of the city so that we could enter, from that point on we could smell the rank stench of rotting flesh all around us, the ruins of the city were full of a strange mist that prevented any one from being able to see the ground, it was not a natural mist, then there came a sound of mindless moaning as the undead started to appear and the battle began.

The key thing to remember about fighting undead is that the only real way to stop them, is to dismember them and burn what remains or the magic's used will just pull them back together.

Many of the undead fell to our might, but so did many of the others that were with me, as one battle ended a new battle started leaving a trail of death in our path until finally, we reached the massive reinforced doors of the warlocks keep, but had it not been for the wizards that were with us, this door would have been a problem, but they simply blasted the doors as there was no other way to open them.

As the door burst open, we were faced with a small army of skeletons, zombies and other undead creatures in a close quarters battle, this was not the wizards normal field and they quickly fell in battle but not before taking at least half of the undead with them, the others kept fighting what remained of the undead guards as I along with one dwarf and elf managed to fight our way up some stairs and reach the warlock but alas they fell before his powers.

The warlock sent some kind of a dark energy wave directly at us but their armor was not strong enough to withstand the full force from him, even with my enchanted armor I probably would not have been able to survive but as fate would have it, the dwarf made a foolish mistake and stepped in my path, but this was actually one of the best mistakes I had ever had happen to me, as he acted like a living shield that protected me, thou only barely.

The blast from the warlock sent me to the ground along with the bodies of the two that were with me, I almost regret that I did not get to know the names of the men that I fought along side, but there was little time for that.

As I lay under the body of the dwarf, I feel the warlock coming closer as if to examine the damage done, but he quickly turns to an alter in the dark room and starts to chant some spells, he thinks that all are dead but I alone live if only just.

I finally manage to shimmy my way out from under the dead dwarf, who knew that some one so small could be so damned heavy.

I grab my blade and see the dwarf shield sitting only a foot from me, I grab it as my own, if only because I cant find mine, I then run right at the warlock and thrust my blade into his spine, the force of my attack drives the blade all the way to its hilt into his back and he lets out a great scream.

But I was foolish; I should have struck before he started the spell because with out him, the spell ran out of control and a great vortex opened up pulling every thing in the room that wasn't bolted down into it, including me.

I tried to pull my sword out of the warlock's body but it was no good as he and my sword were then sucked into the vortex, I then saw the elf's sword on the ground, it was a fine blade but much better than my own, and they said that almost every elf blade is enchanted in one way or another.

As I grab it, I plunge it into the wooden floorboards and try to use it to keep me from the vortex, and at first it looked like it would work, but of course nothing ever happens the way you hope it would.

The flooring its self started to come apart and I felt my self being pulled into the vortex once again.

As I entered it I could feel energy surge through my body, I felt cold inside, but as if I was on fire out side, the pain its self made my pass out.

I don't know how long I was out for, but I woke up to the feeling of a light breeze tickle my face and the warm feeling of dawn.

I open my eyes and find my self in some strange desert, I then look up to the slowly fading stars and notice that there is not one moon in the sky, but three, and one of them has rings around it.

I am not on my world any more; the vortex must have pulled me to another dimension? Another world? Or could this be something else?

As I look around I see that most of what was in the warlocks tower scattered the area around me, including the bodies of the dwarf and elf, thru my travels, I had learned many of the rituals of a number of other races, including that of the rites of passage into the next world of the elves and dwarfs, it took some time but I managed to perform the rights to both of the fallen warriors with one exception.

I took the dwarf shield, and the elf sword.

The shield its self was round and very large, but also very light, other than that it had little features. The elf's sword had a golden hilt, if I had not known better I would have thought it was the blade of a king or other lord.

I was surprised that the sun had yet to fully rise, it had been nearly five hours from when I first started to dig the graves, thou I could see in the distance what looked like a forest, but between me and the forest was not only the desert, but there seemed to be some kind of small mountain range along the border.

After another few hours, still with out the sun in sight, I finally reach the first few rocks that mark the border.

After walking for so long I feel exhausted and it's getting warmer in my armor.

I pull out what remains of a skin full of water, it's not much but at least it will keep my mouth from drying out completely.

I then feel my stomach grumble as it had been some time since I had eaten any thing, thou one of the things I was able to take from my dead comrades, the elf had three apples that had been grown on elf soil, one alone would be able to keep me going for at least a day, luck was on my side as I had three.

As I then start to march on again, I hear a strange sound, it was high pitched almost like a whine, and it forced me to look up as I then saw an energy ball rise up into the air then explode.

This could only mean one thing, some one was in need of help, and my honor bound me to aid who ever needed the help.

I quickly ate the rest of my first apple and bag the core as it might come in handy later.

I quickly come up to where the flair had come from, as it turned out; I was a little off as it had come from inside a passage like cavern in the rocks its self.

But to my horror, as I looked down I could see the stains of blood littering the sand below.

I then found my way down to the lower level; I could tell that this was some kind of an escort or what was left of them.

There were arms, hands, shoulders and spear like weapons along with a few simple shields all over the ground, there was no way to tell what race or sub race the body parts belonged to, it seemed that I was too late.

Or was I? I then heard a tremendous roar up a head, but as if fate was playing some kind of sick joke with me, I found to paths, one leading up back to the top of the cavern, and one on the same level.

So I charged up hill ready to fight, but alas I was wrong, however it may have saved my life.

I again heard the roar but there were also screams of pain, terror and horror, I then looked down the cavern again to find a large red dragon with its neck stretched up as it held some one in its mouth, it looked like it was the last guard of what ever I had come across, and he was just up to his mid section in the dragons mouth pointlessly slashing his weapon at the dragons face until it pulled him in more and bit down, I could see several of its sharp fangs sticking up and down thru the guards body.

I then noticed off in the corner were three women hiding behind a large rock, but the dragon looked towards it as if it knew they were there.

As the dragon closed in on them, I drew my sword but did not attack, I looked around and saw that there was another large boulder along the canyon wall and knew I could use it.

I suppose I should have mentioned, as a Black Knight, I do have some magical skills, just simple spells but I have mastered them and could rival a mage, thou it would not be easy.

I use my powers and take hold of the large rock, I start to shift it back and forth trying to force it to fall on the dragon, but it moved just out of a death strike range, thou it did fall right on its tail preventing it from reaching the three women.

It let out an even greater roar in pain; I then began to jump from rock to rock on my way down the cavern walls.

I then called out to the beast.

"I have always wanted to slay a dragon, want to give me that honor?"

Hearing me taunt it enraged the dragon as it lunged at me and pulled its tail free from the rock, but I managed to dodge its attack by rolling to the right, in the roll I brought my sword up and made a long cut along its rib cage, exposing several of its bones as blood spilled on the ground.

The best thing about an elfish sword was they could cut almost any thing if given the proper momentum.

I then used my powers again and threw several large boulders at it, most of them missed but two struck its head and a third struck its shoulder breaking both the rock and the bone that was under the flesh.

In this move I jumped up on a nearby rock and lunged at the now disoriented dragon and made a good-sized cut along its neck but it was far from a critical hit.

The dragon's blood slowly dripped onto the ground, it then glared at me as it flicked its tail in the air behind it, I could tell it was getting ready to use it as a spear, but that's not all it was ready to do.

As its sharp pointed tail lurched at me like a scorpion, I dodged but it was waiting for me to do that as it left me open to it.

It reached out and grabbed me with its clawed hands and began to squeeze me to death, but the quick movements of my sword quickly removed its hand from its body.

Again it roared in pain and anger, while I grinned under my helmet for at last finding a truly invigorating battle to test my skills.

My mind did remind me that there were three helpless young women nearby, I had to make sure that they came to no harm, and that meant I needed to finish this dragon off fast.

I took this chance to make my move as the dragon was still recoiling from the loss of its hand for it was exposing its chest again.

I charged at the beast and slashed at its chest making an opening in its flesh, I then thrust my sword into the heart of the dragon and with my free hand slammed on the hilt of the sword driving it in even deeper.

I then watched as the great beast died and I slowly pulled my sword from its body, but I could then feel that I was being watched, and not just be the three women I had saved.

I quickly spun around ready to fight.

I saw on the cliff tops and in the canyon, was an entire army of soldiers that looked just like the one I saw devoured by the dragon, but only now could I see what race they were.

They were Naga, and not just one kind of Naga, but it was a full mix of every race or sub race of Naga.

As I looked on at them I could tell that they were unsure if they should attack me, or praise me for such a feat.

I then took a combative stance that was not threatening but more on the defensive side as I knew that many kinds of Naga enjoyed devouring humans and other humanoid races, some actually had a taste for Orcs.

I then started a low growl, as I looked around at all the soldiers looking back at me, if they wanted me as a meal, I would take many of them down with me and they knew it.

We were so focused on each other that none of us noticed that the dragon was starting to stir, until it too growled.

I looked up at it and saw that it was about to breath fire down on the soldiers that were in the canyon, and they had little chance to survive such raw power.

Using my limited magical skills I launched a very small lightning bolt that struck the dragon in its already damaged shoulder, this brought its attention to me once again.

But at this point I had truly had enough, I was now using all my powers and channeling them into my sword just as the dragon was going to incinerate me, I pointed my sword at the dragons head just as it was opening its mouth to breathe fire.

A beam of yellow and blue energy shot out from my sword and went right into the dragon's mouth, there then came a small explosion as the back of the dragons head burst out and the top of its head fell to the ground in a sickening splash of blood and flesh.

The top of the dragons head feel at my feet, in a triumphant gesture, I planted the tip of my sword in the ground beside the head and looked on at all the Naga who were beyond surprised.

I could hear the murmur of them all speaking to one and other, many of them seemed to bow to my might, while lowering their weapons as if to say they would not dare to fight me.

I replied in kind by giving a wide nod, then I noticed that the three women, who were in fact actually Naga women, began to nervously move towards me trying not present them selves as hostile.

During this time I dropped my shield and lifted the dragon's head and placed it on top of it, I then chanted a few magical words and the two became one.

I now had a dwarf dragon skull shield.

The dragon's features remained in tact for the most part; only it was now fused to the shield that reshaped its self to fit the size and shape of the severed head.

I then moved to the severed dragons hand and began to cut off the claws until each and every claw on not only the one hand but both the hands and feet of the dragon were now in my hands.

I then started to merge the claws into my armor just as I had done with my shield, I now had the large claws now turned into spikes on my shoulder plates, and smaller but just as sharp ones on my leggings and gauntlets, I had also taken the fangs from the lower part of the dragons jaw and put them into the sides of my helmet making them look like horns on a bull.

Just then I heard someone clear her thought behind me.

Standing behind me were the three Naga women I had saved from being the dragons last meal of the day.

They seamed to be really bashful of me for some reason, whether it was because of my actions, or some thing else I could not tell, but they seemed to share the look.

The one on my right who I had seen first, had red hair that came just to her shoulders, and a red tail, her eyes were an emerald green and were almost like a hybrid of a human's eyes and snakes, they had the slits of a snake but the rest was almost human.

She seamed to be in the age range of eighteen or twenty, no younger or older, she had a very athletic body and I could make out the size of her pert round breasts as they were easily shown off by the tight blue shirt she had on, it didn't leave much to the imagination, She also had a skirt like cloth that was covering her womanly parts that was matching the shirt in the same kind of blue.

The Naga girl on the left had the same kind of eyes only they were a sapphire blue, her hair was a greenish color just like her tail and was just at her ears, her breasts were a little larger, She had on a tight red shirt and red skirt and seamed to be more athletic than the other one, she seamed to be around the age of twenty to twenty five.

The one standing in the center of the two had dark hazel brown eyes; her body was more slender and looked like she was the more responsible one of them.

Her breasts seamed to be of a good size and with her blond hair that ran down to the small of her back and the purple shirt and skirt she had on, but un like the other two her hair did not match her tail, it was actually blue and she seamed to radiate a kind of nobility about her.

Any one of them I would be more than willing to spend more than one night with, but being Naga, I had to keep my guard up, then she spoke to me.

"Hello Sir, my name is Anya, I am princess of the Naga kingdom Slerie, I and my sisters would like to thank you for your timely rescue of us from that dragon.

May I ask you to where it is that you are going?"

"I go where I am needed, I have no destination."

As I give my answer I could feel some one coming closer, approaching from behind, I keep watching the Naga women then quickly spin and turn in a crouching combative stance.

Looking back at me with fearful eyes stood an older male Naga soldier, and as I look at him I could hear the other soldiers gasp as if they to were scared.

This man was old, looked to be in good shape but ready to retire, as I looked closer I could see that the armor they had on, could hardly be called that as it looked like they had taken animal shells or hides and tried to use them for protection, but it would not even stand up to a child's arrow, and the weapons looked more like they were made out of animal bones claws and teeth.

The Naga man looked as if he was ready to piss him self with fear, but as amusing as that would have been for me, I slowly stood back up right, and as I did so I could hear a sigh of relief come not only from him, but the soldiers and the three girls as well.

"You should know better than to silently move towards some one when he is surrounded by an army, he may mistake a simple attempt at saying hello as an attempt at his life."

"Forgive me great warrior, I did not mean to cause you any alarm but I needed to make sure that our princesses were safe and see if they had any commands for us."

"Oh if I must forgive you then I will, so long as you only call me by my name."

"What is your name?"

The red headed woman asked me.

"I am known as Koric, but I have been called other things that I shall not repeat, but tell me, what are your names?"

"My sisters are Cara, she has the red tail and this is Sarah with the green tail, and this very old man is general Aught and head of our armies."

Anya then slowly moved up to me again trying to get my direct attention.

"Sir Koric, I would personally appreciate it if you would join us at our capital to meet our mother, Queen Irah and so that we may reward you properly there."

I stood there for a moment and looked at not only the soldiers, but the three girls as well, as my nature is I have to look people in the eye, and some thing told me that it would prove to be very interesting to join them.

Cara seemed to blush every time I looked towards her, Sarah on the other hand seemed to get excited when I would look to her, then there was Anya, she seamed to get really nervous when I would look at her.

Thousands of thoughts raced in my mind about what it could be, but there was only one way to truly find out.

"I have no need of a reward, Honor demanded that I helped you, how ever I have never seen a Naga city, I shall join you and your sisters to meet your mother."

As I said this, all the Naga soldiers that were in the canyon with me started to slither and climb up the walls heading towards the forest, I too moved towards the wall, but as I looked up at the rocks, Aught stood beside me.

"Do you need help?"

"No not at all, I have climbed mountains before."

As I said this I cracked my knuckles and ready them like claws and jumped six feet into the air and clung to the wall.

As I climbed up there came a loud thud each time my hands dug into the rocks along with the clanking of my armor on its self and the rock wall, I noticed that some of the Naga soldiers seemed to be startled by the sudden sound, that told me two things.

First, that we were in a dangerous area, and second, I really scared the shit out of them, I knew they would never attack me unless they felt they had no choice.

When I finally got to the top of the rock wall, I noticed that one of the soldiers was still climbing up, he also looked to be very young and must have been new to the military life as he was not as strong looking as the others.

I was keeping an eye on him for the most part both because he looked like the new guy, but also its always good to know who is at your back, but just as he was about to climb to the top of the cliff, the rock he was holding on to came lose and he began to fall.

He didn't move but an inch when I grabbed his hand saving him from a very messy demise, I then moved my arm up and over my head with such strength and forced that I pulled him with, it sat him tail first on the ground clear from the cliff edge.

The Naga boy looked at me dumbfounded and unable to comprehend what I had just done.

"It saved him? But why?"

I heard one of the other Naga soldiers say.

"What makes your life worth more than his when it could be snuffed out just as fast."

"Only our strong should survive, the weak should perish as fate would have it."

"Just as your princesses would have at the jaws of the dragon? No all sentient life is precious, no matter how strong or weak it may be."

As we then march thru the rest of the desert and into the forest, I could feel even more eyes on me, and not just the ones of the Naga that I was traveling with, under normal conditions they would have tried to make a meal out of me, but because I had saved the lives of their princesses and the life of one of their soldiers, they owed me a great debt, but I did suspect that there was another reason for them wanting me to join them.

Did they need a hero to save them from some cruel fate? Did they want to use me as a weapon or deterrent from their enemies?

Again all this would only be answered once I met with the queen of the Naga kingdom.

Soon we came to a small stream with a waterfall, here we were going to rest and regain some of our energy from the long walk, or in their case slither, I then took this time to look around at the Naga soldiers that were escorting us.

To my surprise, most of them were actually female; there were only a handful of male soldiers with us, but as I would have some time to think about this I figured now would be a good time to fill my animal skin with more water, what little I had in it was now stale and warm, but just as I was coming closer to the bank the young Naga soldier I had saved grabbed the skin and darted to the water and began to fill it for me, then just as quickly he returned with it full of water.

"Thank you, but I am able to take care of my self, you need not wait on me."

"But I must Sir, you had not only save my life but the lives of our princesses, our entire kingdom owes an eternal debt, even the queen owes you for saving them."

"Be that as it may, I would prefer to take care of myself when I can, how else do you think I became strong enough to kill the dragon? It was not by asking others to do things for me but rather me doing so for my self and aiding others that could not."

Just then I saw something shimmer in the shadows on the other side of the bank, I knew that none of the other Naga had left, so that could only mean that some one that did not want to be seen, was watching me.

Instead of spooking what ever it was, I slowly looked directly at it then lowered my head just a bit so that it could tell I could see it.

I then walked over to a nearby rock and sat on it and watched the other Naga sit and rest or talk to each other, but I did keep glancing at the creature that was watching me, and in a gesture to show my strength I placed on hand on my shield and began to gently tap on it so the thing would take notice of it, then I placed my other hand on my sword just to make sure it was clear, I would not be an easy prey.

Unfortunately the Naga princesses picked this moment to hover around me and blocked my view of the creature, and by the time I could see the spot again, the creature was gone.

This was of little concern to me and allowed me to watch what was going on around me directly.

I then saw the Naga soldiers start to eat, though it was more swallowing than eating.

Some pulled out live rodents, lizards, birds and a few even had some strange plants that I had never seen before, all of which were quickly slid down their necks and into the bellies, not one of them took a bite of their meal, save for the ones that had the plants.

Then I noticed that the Naga princesses were all giving me strange looks so I then began to watch them a little more than I had been.

"Tell us Koric, what is it that you do in your homeland?"

Sara asked me as she put her arms around my left arm and was almost putting her head on my shoulder.

"I fight to protect people that are unable to protect themselves, I help any one that is in trouble and as I'm sure you now know, I also try and save people from large monsters that could make them a meal."

Just then I noticed Cara putting her arms around my right arm and was also very close to putting her head on my other shoulder, Both of them were taking great care not to cut them selves on the blades I now had on my armor.

"So you're like a guardian who watches over others and protects them."

Cara said looking up to me with very bright and life filled eyes.

"You could say that."

Just then I felt Anya resting her elbows on my knees and her tail slightly around my feet and legs, thou not tightly that I could not move but that could have been because of the blades on my leggings too.

"What do you require as payment when you save some one?"

She asked me as her face started to blush.

"There is no price to pay, I do not ask for things when I aid people, but some times others find me and request me to help them while offering me any number of things, such as gold, food, the use of services, that sort of thing."

"What kind of services do you need?"

Sara asked with a slight grin on her face.

"In truth, I never really know, this one time I was asked by a smith to clear an ore mine that some goblins had taken over, the few guards they did have were not strong enough to defend it and some of the workers even got killed.

After I cleared it I was thanked and he offered me any thing I wanted, I only asked that he fix my armor and if he could find any thing that needed to be replaced to do so and we would be even."

The three Naga girls looked at me in awe as I told them the story and I could tell they wanted another one.

"Another time I was in a small village, this young woman ran up to me once she found out I was a black knight and asked that I save her little sister, the sister was taken by some cultists who wanted to sacrifice her to their god, they had taken a small ruined fort as their home and I was able to quickly run thru it all the while fighting the very cultists who were there, but it also turned out they had taken many other people they found on the roads, woods or had taken from other villages.

But the young girl was not with them, I eventually found their alter and saw their grand priest ready to drive a dagger into the little girls chest, I then saw a spear on the wall and hurled it at the man.

I threw it so hard and fast that it drove right thru his back out his chest and into the ground, preventing him from falling.

All the other cult members began to panic and some tried to fight back but as you have seen, I am much stronger than I am given credit for, the survivors then looked at me to see what I would do, so I told them, if I ever found out that another child went missing, that another cult member was seen taking some one, that I would return, and remove their limbs one by one and keep them alive while I did it, so they had better find a god that did not demand any sacrifice.

When I returned to the village, the older sister was very grateful and wanted to show me her gratitude in many ways as they did not have much in the way of gold and were just barley making a living by selling foods and some medicines, so I told her that if she gave me one bottle of medicine, I would call it even, when she went to get the medicine I knew that they could hardly afford to just give it away, so I handed the little sister a small bag with about sixty gold pieces and told her to only tell her sister after I left."

"You are a warrior with a golden heart, your mate must miss your company."

Anya said as she began to look me up and down.

"Oh I do not have a mate, thou I do know that many of the women I have helped and saved would have wished I were theirs, but alas, that would not have been an honorable act as they only felt it because of my actions.

Thou there were times I wished that I could have."

"Are you looking for a mate?"

Sara asked me with an innocent smile on her face as she blushed.

"I have learned that some times looking for some thing, does not help you to find it, some times it must find you."

At this moment I noticed just what the girls were doing, or trying to do, though I am not an idiot it was clear that they had some interest in me from the start, how ever as a sign of respect I could not take advantage of them, and most of all if their mother found out that I had my way with them, she might try and have her guards kill me.

No I would have to wait and see how things played out first, if in time things did get interesting with the girls, who am I to deny them, after all, they are very beautiful.

A few moments later Aught moved up to us and said it was time for us to move out, they had rested long enough.

The girls slowly removed them selves from me but making sure that I knew they were holding on to me by rubbing against my armor so that I could feel it.

As Cara passed by me she gave me a suggestive glance that told me in many ways that as they would have said, wanted me as her mate.

Aught then turned to me directly and in a very soft voice said

"They owe you greatly, but not only that they have picked you for their mate, I can see it in your reactions that you know this, but to prevent them from getting upset from your attempts to evade it, you might want to reconsider.

Our laws state that any Naga that owes its life to another belongs to that person.

But because you saved the three of them, and they are of royal blood, they wish to repay you by giving you lives."

"I see, they literally want me as their mate then."

"Correct, but you are smart not to take advantage of that just yet, the queen must know how and why before any thing is done."

"Forgive me, but my personal law tells me, that I can not just become their mate, I too must experience some thing that tells me I would be happy with them."

"They wish to mate with you, does that not make you happy?"

"That only makes part of me happy, but there is another part that must also be happy, a part of me that wants to be their mate not because it is forced, but because of who they are to me."

"I do not understand."

"It's a human thing, some times not even I can understand it."

With that Aught slowly slithered away to help the others get ready to move out.

A few hours later as we traveled through the thick jungle, every one became on edge, every one was watching the woods and had stopped talking, the only thing that could be heard were some birds chirping in the distance.

Suddenly the birds stopped chirping and there was an eerie silence that forced me to stop.

"Halt." I half whispered and half shouted.

Aught quickly moved towards me almost in a panic.

"Koric, we can not stay here, if we do it will mean death on us all if we are found by."

I then cut him off by holding my hand up to him.

"The birds have stopped chirping, we have already been found.

Every one listen to me, and follow my orders, do as I say and you may live to see tomorrow, ready your weapons and stay on guard, watch each others backs, now come in closer with your backs to me, don't turn them on the woods."

As I said this I drew my sword and stood in a combative stance ready to fight what ever lurked in the woods.

Suddenly there came several screams as a few of the Naga soldiers were entangled in vines that were pulling them towards the thick woods, but the vines all seamed to originate from the same location.

Seeing my chance I launched a fireball and scored a direct hit at the very spot the vines were all connected and severed them from what ever they were connected to.

The Naga women quickly got up and began to move as fast as they could back towards the others and picked up their weapons as they did.

As we waited there was an unnatural silence in the air, beyond quiet.

Then even more vines burst out from the jungle and started to grab the Naga and once again pull them, but this time a large bulb emerged by bursting out from the trees, and then it started to open up as the vines started to pull and drag the Naga towards it.

This was some kind of a carnivorous plant, it was much like a flytrap, except this thing was almost the size of a small barn, it's mouth was toothless but it did have some kind of a large tongue that started to wiggle and shake as if it knew it was about to feast on the young Naga and swallow them.

But as I was making my to help them, more and more vines appeared and began to attack, forcing me to spin and slash my sword in every direction, but this allowed the plant to start sticking the Naga into its mouth, thou it was clearly taking its time to slide them in.

When I finally got close enough to help, the plant had already placed three of the eight Naga it had hold of into its mouth, it then began to play with them sliding its tongue around them trying to taste every part of them all at once all the while the Naga were fighting to get free.

This only seemed to provide the plant with more pleasure as it started to shake even more as if it was enjoying their attempts to escape.

The plant then stretched its neck up forcing gravity to pull them down ever so slowly at the same time.

As the last one of the Naga vanished down its thought creating a large bulge where the three of them were, the plant began to put more Naga into its mouth and repeated the taste test of the new victims, even thou the first three were not even fully clear of the opening in the back of its mouth, if a rope had been thrown down they could have climbed out.

But as I kept closing in I noticed that the plant seamed to ignore what was going on as soon as it had some thing in its mouth, the vines attacking seamed to just flail about aimlessly.

The plant was so interested in tasting what it had that it was ignoring what was going on, this gave me the chance to attack it while it was distracted.

But the plant seamed to be picking up speed as it was now just pulling the Naga into the mouth with its neck stretched up as high as it could reach, yet the Naga it had swallowed did not slide down any faster, that was when I realized that it did not have any muscles to swallow them with, that was why it was stretching its neck so high so that they would go down into its stomach.

Soon that small bulge that started with the first three now became almost as long as the creatures neck it's self by the time I reached it.

Using my sword I made a powerful slash at the base of its neck just a bit below the first Naga that it had swallowed were going to slide to.

But this thing was tough, my sword only made a small slash into it thou I could actually see into its thought.

As I looked at the damage, the face of one of the Naga that had been swallowed was passing the opening and I could see the fear in here eyes pleading for me to help her.

Just then a very large branch like vine came crashing down on my back and knocked me to the ground, then another one lifted me up and was going to pull me to the mouth, but I used the blades on my gauntlets and cut the vine, only to land on my ass.

I then looked up to the Naga that I had seen as she was now starting to move past the small hole I had made, if I did not act fast she and the others would be below ground and in this plants stomach.

That was when I realized I had been going about this completely wrong, I was fighting this plant, as if it was just another monster, but it was still a plant and a tropical one at that.

I then summoned my powers into my right hand as a white glow began to form around it, my only concern now was, the Naga inside that thing, being half reptile and half human or elf, would they survive, but if I did nothing they would not any ways.

Using my powers I sent a jet of ice cold wind that began to freeze the plant as it came in contact with its body, ice crystals began for forum all along it as I started as low to the ground as I could, then began to work my way up its body, all the while it was trembling and shuddering violently under the sudden change in temperature.

I could then smell the cent of what a frost burnt vegetable would smell like if it had not been harvested before a snowfall, but not only that, the plant its self began to turn all kinds of shades of blue, then it just stopped moving.

I took my left fist and smashed thru its base, releasing the first three Naga that had been swallowed, thou they were free they to did show signs of being chilled and were a little on the slimy side, they were alive.

To make sure that the plant did not just grow back, I then sent a very long stream of frost down into the pit of the plant that was below ground, down and into its roots and stomach, this plant would never trouble any one again.

As I then moved to allow the other Naga to help their friends out of the dead plant, my steps became difficult as they grew heavy, my arms felt limp and my head felt as if it would blow a way with the wind.

I had used up too much of my energies fighting and killing the plant, but I was also drained from fighting the dragon and re fitting my armor with its horns, claws and fangs.

If I could just sit down and rest for a bit I would be fine, as I staggered forwards I saw a log laying on the ground and knew it would be the perfect spot for me to rest, but as I took one more step forward, I fell flat on my face.

As I began to pass out I could hear the three princesses calling my name as they slithered over to try and help me.

I then felt some one roll me over as Aught began to shout to them.

"He is alright, he only used up too much of his magical energy too fast, and he has no choice but to rest."

Just as my mind was going blank, I could feel two of the princesses grab my arms, and the third one try and hold my head, as for who did what, I could not tell.

What I can only guess was hours later; I woke to find that four of the Naga guards were carrying me on a very long piece of a log that had been cut and their weapons along with me were held together by some very strong looking vines.

I then noticed that to my right side Cara slithered as we moved along, on my left was Sara and thou I could not see her, I guessed that Anya was just past my head.

Though I liked the chance to rest, there could still be more dangerous creatures around that needed to meet my blade, so instead of coughing and accidentally scaring every one, I decided the best way to let them know I was well rested was to, of all things, yawn.

Both Sara and Cara practically jumped right on top of me as they both grabbed hold of my arms and rested their faces near my chest so I was forced to look at them both grinning at me sheepishly.

"Koric, it is good to see that you are ok, you had us worried there for a bit."

I heard Anya say just above my head, forcing me to look up just to see her.

She looked down at me with such kindness and warmth that I was quite embarrassed by it all, though thankfully I still had my helmet on preventing her from seeing my predicament.

But she then lowered her self very close to me and placed both her arms around my neck as if she were hugging me, it was more than clear that they would have taken me right then and there.

I then gladly heard Augth's voice call out to them, this seemed to remind them they were more or less in public.

"Excuse me princesses, but I do think that Koric may want to get up now, the sun has marched half way from the center of the sky and is nearly ready to set, I am sure he would like to stretch his arms and leg or do other things."

Both Sara and Cara gave out a little sigh in protest, then they both looked devilishly at me as Cara said.

"Maybe later we can see just how much energy you really have, alone."

"I like that idea, he can show us just how much energy he has, and if it's enough to keep up with us."

Sara added.

The three then slowly let go of me, the Naga guards that were carrying me lowered their bodies and let the make shift stretcher rest on the ground, two of them were going to remove the vine that were holding me down but I sat up before they could reach them and they snapped, thou it was mostly because of the blades on my armor, as I moved they cut the vines.

I then stood up and began to stretch my arms in every direction that they would bend; I then began to work on my legs by twisting them as I moved around.

While I did this I began to think of how foolish I must have looked moving like this, maybe it looked like I was dancing, but that did not matter.

I then began to twist my torso forcing my spine to crack a few times, which actually felt really good, then to make sure I was once again at full strength; I jumped up in to the air doing a back flip and landed in a crouching stance.

Just then the young Naga boy approached me holding my sword and shield; he then extended them to me just like a squire would have to his master knight.

"Thank you, I trust that there were no problems while I was resting?"

"No sir, the path remained clear the entire way, but it would not surprise me if that was not because you were with us."

"Please, do not kiss my feet, whether that is true or not does not matter, the road was clear, all are safe."

"Yes sir, but…. I have not kissed your feet."

"It's just an expression, it means don't make it sound as if I was the reason behind some thing unless I actually did some thing about it."

Just then Aught made his way up to the young one and me.

"Return to your duties soldier, we are not safe just yet."

The young one then moved off and joined with four other Naga soldiers who seemed to be scolding him with their looks of disapproval.

"You know, I think he may be right, I can feel danger all round us, watching our movements, our actions and you."

"I know, I have seen things and they know I have seen them.

At this moment there are four creatures in the nearby trees watching not only me, but also the princesses, they are trying to determine my relationship with them and possibly if it would be wise to attack."

"How do you know this?"

"While I was…. Stretching, I was also taking a good look around as I could feel the eyes on me, I did not want to spook them by looking directly at them as they might have attacked, or suddenly ran off and spooking your guards into attacking them."

"I see, can you tell me where they are?"

"But of course, so long as you do what I say, they will not know that I have showed you."

"I understand."

"Stand in front of me, as if we are going to spar off and practice some combat moves."

Aught did as I told him; he stood as if to fight with his spear crossed in front of his chest ready to deflect or attack.

I then pointed the tip of my sword just past him and winked, he gave me a nod as I then moved forward with slow moving sword training attacks, giving him enough time to adjust to the movements of a sword and block them with his spear.

"Good, you must always remember that when fighting some one with a sword, it can cut three ways, both sides, and the tip, now I will show you the second move of typical combat that I have learned."

As I said this out loud to Aught, he gave me another nod with a small grin and knew what I was doing.

I then held my shield in front of my body, as if I was defending from an attack, I then pointed my sword towards Aught but slightly off again, he again gave me a nod as I then moved forward towards him, he of course took a few swings at my shield but was unable to do any real damage.

"As you can see, I was well protected behind my shield, but there is a draw back, I must lower my shield to make any kind of real attack, this would leave some one that does not know how to fight very vulnerable to attacks.

Now let me show you the third skill, after that there will be only one left for me to show you."

This time I held my shield just over my shoulder and my sword at an angel, and for a third time I gave a slow blink, and once again Aught gave me a nod, I then made several crisscross slashes in the air then forced my shield forward and stopped just short of Aught.

"The shield can be just as dangerous a weapon if used correctly by some one that knows how; they all share the same traits as being very blunt regardless of size shape or even if they have spikes.

I could use my shield to knock an enemy down, and kill him with my sword unless I did kill him with the hit from my shield."

"I understand what else can you show me?"

"Well there is one more skill, for this to work, you must charge at me as if you were going to impale me with your spear, I will deflect it and counter in an attack that I will not complete."

Aught of course gave me a nod in agreement; after I took a stance I again gave him a nod to start.

As he came in close to me I stood ready and at the last moment I side stepped and used my shield to guide the spear away from me, I then spun around and brought my sword around directed at his head, but stopped just above his shoulder, I then tapped his shoulder with the flat side of my sword to show him that I would have won.

Aught looked at the blade then followed its point and tried to look a little annoyed about his mach defeat, then slowly turned to me and gave me a bow.

By this time the soldiers had already set up camp, some were even tending to a small stone pot full of now steaming water that was being filled with the strange kinds of plants that I had seen some of them eating before, some were diced right up and others were placed in whole.

I then heard one of the soldier's say that she wished they had some skitter meat to add to the slim meal they would be having tonight.

"A skitter you say? What kind of creature is that?"

I asked having walked up to them as they cooked a way.

"A skitter is a small round creature with six legs, it lives in or on lakes ponds and streams, it has two pincer like claws and a long tail with a poisoned barb at the end.

They can run right across the water or swim under it, they also tend to hunt in packs for any thing they can eat, thou it tends to be fish, and they will eat plants or animals they find on land."

"Are they dangerous to face?"

"Only if they think your food, and there is more than four, or they sting you with their tail."

"Is the meat any good?"

"Are you kidding? I've known people to fight over the meat."

"I see are they found around this area?"

"Yeah you could find them here, but by the time any one caught them we would have already made the soup."

With that I turned and made my way towards the river bank, I could hear the sounds of things skipping off the water but was unsure if it would be one of the skitters the other Naga had talked about.

As my eyes adjusted to the closing darkness I could see large shapes and shadows moving not only on the water, but also under it and on the rest of the beach, I then noticed that many of the shadows had some tail like shadows rise up, twitch a bit, then it looked like the tails would merge with the rest of the shadow, this told me that the tails ether rested on the creatures back, or was now laid out behind it.

The closest ones were about half a kilometer from me, and from what I could see; there was about three or four of them and there was enough cover from several rocks and bushes for me to sneak up on them with out being noticed, but that also meant that there might be some thing behind the same rocks or bushes.

I then used a spell called Cats Eye to allow me to see in the darkest of caves or other places devoid of light, it was also the first spell that I learned when I first joined the ranks of the Black knights.

I then started to sneak my way to the location of the Skitters and as they came into view, I found that I was just as surprised at how they looked even thou one of the Naga told me what they looked like.

To some one from my world, it would have looked like a large scorpion had mated with an equally large crab; its body was round like that of a crab and so were its legs, yet its tail and claws were more like that of a scorpion.

From what I could see of the creatures, they seamed to range in size but tended to be the equal size of an adult fox, thou this was clearly more dangerous than some thing as small as a fox.

I finally closed in with my blade ready and just in case I needed to, I cleared my mind and prepared to throw a few fireballs.

As I came up on the first few skitters, I decided that it would be best if I can take as many of them out as silently as I can, but seeing as how many Naga there were at the camp, I knew that I would need more than one skitter, I would probably need about four or five of them, depending on their sizes.

The first one I came up on had its back to me, I could not tell if it was sleeping or if it was just sitting there, its tail with a stinger that looked about the size of a small Childs hand was just hovering over its back, to me it looked like it was relaxed and didn't expect that there was any danger nearby.

I grabbed the tail just below the stinger and pulled the skitter towards me as I plunged my blade into its abdomen and out its back, I then quickly pulled my sword out and stood ready to insure that the skitter would not still live and try to attack me, or make a sound that would alert the other skitters that were nearby.

Even with the sickening slurping sound that my blade created as I pulled it from the dead skitter, the others did nothing.

I then continued to kill them and collect their bodies and place them near the shore close to the camp, but out of the sight of the Naga, I wanted to surprise them.

But then as I had killed the forth one, I had forgotten what the one Naga had told me, that they also live under the water and of all things; I stepped on the tail of one.

Lucky for me, my weight had broken its tail so it was now useless, but now there were over twelve others that still had their tails, with working stingers.

I quickly drove my sword into the Skitter's body making sure that it wouldn't have the chance to use its claws on me, but as I killed it, three other skitters jumped me, one on my back, one on my chest and the other one, I caught in mid air, but this forced me to drop my sword.

They were smart enough not to use their stingers as they may have hit each other, but that didn't stop them from trying to bite and claw me, giving the other skitters the time they needed to close in on me, but as we fought, the sound of splashing water, the cries of the skitters and the ever so quiet sound of me cursing the annoying creatures carried over to the Naga that were setting up the camp.

Several of the Naga quickly came over to see what was happening, they first found the dead skitters that I had collected, and then they saw me fighting at least twelve of the damned creatures.

Soon more Naga along with Aught and the three princesses soon showed up to see what was going on, but I was too busy to be bothered by them looking at me.

Finally I got annoyed by the skitters trying to kill me, or eat me, so instead of just trying to get a way from them, I decided I would just kill them.

The one that I was holding in my hand I smashed its body on a large rock that was beside me, having hit it with as much force as I did, the creature seamed to explode as its sides split open from the force as its blood and guts just splattered out of its now nearly empty shell of a body.

I then grabbed the one that was on my back and the one on my chest, I then slammed them into each other as the backs of their shells split and blood shot out of their mouths from the internal damage that was done.

I then tossed the bodies towards the shore, but as all this was happening, the other twenty or so skitters had closed in on me and began to jump me.

I must have had at least two on each of my arms and legs trying to bite and claw me, while another two or three were on my back and chest, preventing me from being able to truly fight back, I then noticed that they also seamed to be trying to pull me down into the water.

I knew that if they had, then I would be in real danger, even if my helmet did provide me with a limited ability to breath underwater, it was not a permanent thing as it along with the rest of my equipment was charged by the light of the sun, or in this world, suns'.

Having already been ready to use my magic, I charged a spell that I have had to use a few times before, thou I did not like to; it had saved my life on many occasions before.

"Ecto, Malos, Elno."

As I shouted the words, the air around me became hotter and had the smell of sulfur about it, then a small but powerful energy blast radiated out from my body about three feet out, sending the skitters flying in bits and pieces at least five feet away.

Lucky for the Naga, they were standing at least fifteen feet away and didn't get splattered by any of the blood and guts that used to belong to how ever many skitters had been on me or directly around me.

As I walked up to the Naga I noticed that they were all giving me a strange look, trying to figure out what had happened.

"It's called core burst, if a black knight like my self found that he or she was being overwhelmed by any kind of an enemy, such as what just happened to me, we can create a small energy blast that will burst out from within our own bodies, our armor acts as a conduit for the blast and that is why my armor remained on my body."

The Naga still stood there looking at me for a few moments, then I could see the sudden realization of what I had said finally clue into them, I then started to gather up the skitters that I had killed before and was saving for the stew that was being made, there was more than enough skitter meat for every one to have at least three pieces in their bowl.

I found that the stew its self had an interesting flavor to it, not so much in a bad way, but it would take some time to get used to all the strange fruit or vegetables that were put in it, but it was manageable and it did its job very well as it did fill my stomach up, meaning that I could save the apples that I still had for later if I ever needed them.

I then made my own personal walk around the camp, checking in on the guards to not only make sure that there was one, but also to see if they would be able to guard and were not too tired to be of any use.

I even talked with the guards to try and get as much information as I could about this world, the creatures in it and the Naga kingdom of Slerie.

From what I could gather, this was a world full of danger, monsters and people in need of assistance, a world that needed a black knight, and a world that needed me.


End file.
